Mr Sandman
by dark dhampir
Summary: A date with her beloved takes a backseat when Shepard is forced to investigate a murder by one of the most terrifying wesen of all, but when things turn South, it's up to her friends to save the Grimm Spectre's sight. Rated for violence and disturbing images
1. Chapter 0: Grief

**Here it is, the _Mass Effect _retelling of the _Grimm _episode _Mr. Sandman. _You'll notice it isn't a complete transfer; I didn't watch it as I wrote this. Also, I don't know about you, but I was never convinced with the Jinimuru Xute's performance at the grief support meeting.**

* * *

**Chapter 0: Grief**

A man got out of a sporty hover-car in front of the United Worlds Chapel of the Kithoi Ward. It was "evening;" there weren't really any days or nights in the Wards, but there _were _times when a majority of a given area would rest. Still, there were always businesses or social groups active every hour of every day.

The man in question was a young, attractive-looking human. He was of Caucasian descent, with dark hair neatly trimmed and dark eyes that suddenly squinted in pain. _"Gahhhh!" _He pushed his hand against his forehead and leaned against the wall of the Chapel. His free hand dove into his pocket, from which it began to remove a small, cylindrical object. The man growled again as he wrestled the object out of the pocket which had wrapped around it. Finally, he got it free; it was a small pill-bottle.

Quickly, the man wrenched open the lid and removed a few of the pills, shoving them into his mouth and down his throat. He continued to lean against the wall, panting, as the medicine went to work. Within a few moments, he was breathing normally again. Sighing, he straightened up, smoothed his shirt, and walked in.

Inside, a group of people sat in a ring of chairs. There were ten, all together, mostly human, but there was also an Asari, a male Turian, and a Drell female. One of the human women crying a great deal, and struggling to speak. "I just can-can't let go . . ." she stuttered, dabbing her eyes. "Every day when I wake up . . . I s-see him . . . and every night, when I go to sleep . . . he's there . . . lying on that table!" She stopped trying to speak, burying her face in her handkerchief.

"I know it's hard to believe, but you're doing very well, Kristy," the Asari spoke gently. Looking up, she saw the new arrival. "Hello, friend. Do you have anything you wish to share?"

"Oh, right," he said, speaking with an accent the Asari was unfamiliar with. "Hello, my name's Andre, and . . . my wife . . . she died about a year ago . . . brain cancer." The Asari nodded in sympathy; even with all the advances in modern medicine, cancer in the brain was still a terribly deadly disease. ". . . and, honestly, sometimes It's all I can do to get out of bed in the morning."

* * *

The meeting broke up shortly after the man spoke. The attendants helped themselves to the drinks and snacks provided, some making small talk small groups about . . . various subjects. Amongst those was a couple composed of Kristy and Andre, the late arrival. "You're wife sounds like she was an amazing person."

He nodded. "She was easy to talk to . . ."

"So, your accent . . . I'm guessing South Africa?"

"Ah, you got a good ear. Most people think Australian—immediately go the shrimp on the barbie thing."

"Long way from home," she said.

"Yeah," Andre replied. "I came for a job . . . and to get away."

"Yeah," Kristy said, "I wish I could do that." Setting her cup down, she turned to leave. "I got to go. It's late, and I have long walk home."

Andre let her walk for a moment, before placing his own beverage on the table. Following after her, he offered, "I could give you a ride." She stopped and turned to him. "Sorry," he said. "Forget I said anything."

"I'll take it," Kristy said.

iAndre's eyebrows went up. "But, you don't know me."

"I know you're still in love with your wife," she countered, "and I know I won't be getting any sleep tonight . . ."

* * *

"Sorry I don't have better coffee," Kristy said, setting down her own mug. "That was always Adam's specialty." She instantly brought her hands up to her eyes. "I promised myself I wasn't going to do this."

"It's all right," Andre encouraged her. "Let it out."

"Thanks, but I'm not shedding anymore tears; at least I hope not. I don't want to cry anymore."

"But I want you to," Andre said, frowning. Kristy turned to him, wide-eyed, and saw the man take a deep breath and blow red sand into her face.

_"Ow,"_ she said, getting up and stumbling around the room. _"Ow! What did you do to me? OW!" _Whatever he'd blown into her eyes was stinging horribly. Tears began streaming down her cheeks.

She didn't hear Andre get up and move in front of her, but she did hear him when he said, "That's better. That's what I like." Then, he grabbed her wrists, tight enough to hurt. Strangely, they felt rougher and hairier than they should have. She also heard a loud buzzing noise, and felt something warm and slimy on her wet eyes. Suddenly, he let go, and she fell to the floor. Above her, she heard him sighing in pleasure, _"Ah! Aaaaah!" _Then, he turned and walked away, leaving her laying there.

Kristy crawled across the floor, trying to find something to help her stand up. _"Help! Somebody help me! I CAN'T SEE! I'M BLIND!" _She didn't recognize the metal bookcase when she found it, nor did she realize that it couldn't support her weight. Even as it began to fall forward, she had no idea that her death was rushing to meet her.

* * *

**Aaaaaaaaaand, done.**


	2. Chapter 1: Fear

**Author's Notes: **Sorry it's been so long. Hopefully, this will get you eager for the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Fear**

_Beep! Beep!_

Jane Shepard groaned. _You have got to be kidding me . . . _the Spectre cum Grimm was standing outside _Stellar Seas,_ one of the most romantic restaurants in the Citadel, alongside her favorite Asari. Between Liara's work as the new Shadow Broker and the Commander's own hectic schedule, this was the first night in a long time that the two of them had been able to get to themselves.

Opening her omnitool, she informed the caller, "Marcus, my vacation just started."

"Sorry, Commander," the middle-aged man said. "But we've got a homicide in the Fourth Ward."

"So why can't C-Sec handle it?" she asked, although she had a few ideas as to the answer.

"Well, ma'am, it's a very . . . _grim_ scene."

Shepard sighed. Marcus was a Mellifer, a bee-like wesen that often acted as the town crier of the supernatural community. Traditionally, they were perhaps the only wesen to actively work with Grimms. Over the years, Marcus had informed a number of wesen law-enforcers of crimes against or by members of their own community.

"Fine, I'll look into it. Give me the address." Closing the omnitool, she turned to her partner, "I'm sorry, Liara," she said. "I know we haven't had much time together lately."

"An occupational hazard in our lines of work," the Asari agreed. Taking her bondmate's hand, she asked. "Should I call Thane and Garrus? They're the only ones on the Citadel right now."

Shepard spared a moment to admire her beloved's appearance. Liara was beautiful in a lab coat; wearing an Asari evening gown, she was magnificent. The commander suddenly felt like she was the one being cheated. Still, business before pleasure, as they say. "No, this might be nothing. No need to disturb them yet," she said.

* * *

Two hours later, the Spectre and her partner, both now clad in armor, stepped out of their car and approached the precinct. It didn't take long to locate the ME in charge of examining the victim. He was a human in his mid-sixties with a large mustache. His hair was totally grey, but still very thick. He spoke with a Russian accent. "I'm surprised to see a Spectre this early, though I don't believe in questioning good luck."

"Most people think a Spectre showing up is a bad sign," Shepard remarked as they approached the body. There was no one else in the examination room; aside from this one poor soul, it had been a relatively peaceful night.

"I don't think things can get much worse than this," the man said. He pulled back the sheet and revealed body. "She was found under a metal bookcase; her windpipe was crushed, but what interests me the most is her eyes."

Shepard and Liara looked down at the woman's eyes. They were ringed with black bruises, and the eyes themselves were white as Liara's lab coat. "She was blind?" the Asari asked. Out of the corner of eye, she saw Jane pale.

"Yes—but only recently," the doctor remarked. "See that . . . red sand in her eyes?" He missed the breath Shepard sucked in at his words, but Liara didn't.

The Asari nodded, then took her bondmate's hand. _What's the matter, My Love?" _she wondered. The scientist decided to confront her beloved about this when they were alone again.

The ME, meanwhile, continued. "Look at this." He opened a video screen for them.

Liara cringed at the sight: little red worms swimming around. What concerned her most, however, was the sharp intake of breath her bondmate took. Ignoring it, she asked, "What are those . . . things?"

"Those," the man replied, "are that 'red sand' magnified." After giving the two a moment to digest the information, he remarked. "After medical school, I spent a year in Kenya—that's a country on Earth, in case you didn't know—studying the local parasites. These little lovelies look like the same ones that cause river blindess."

"How did she become infected?" Liara asked.

The man shrugged. "Don't know. It doesn't look like she's been off the Citadel for a while, and since their host is dead, the parasites are dying too, so I don't have a lot of time to study them . . . but I can tell you that these babies . . . are still just babies . . ."

* * *

It wasn't until they were back in the hovercar that Liara confronted her bondmate on the woman's strange behavior. "Jane, what's wrong?" she asked. "I've never seen you this . . . frightened."

Shepard sat behind the wheel of the car, which she had yet to turn on. She squeezed the device once, then sighed. "There's only one Wesen that could have done this," she said. "A Jinnimuru Xunte."

"What kind of Wesen is it?" Liara asked, her hand hover between them. Sometimes, it was hard to tell when her beloved would accept comfort.

"The worst kind," the Grimm Spectre answered. "It blinds people, permanently . . . painfully." Shepard took a deep breath. "I read about them in my family's journals . . . one case had pictures, _very detailed _pictures. I had nightmares for the next three nights strait."

Liara's eyes shot up. "Is there someone else you could call for help . . . There must be other Grimms on the Citadel."

_Doubtful, _Shepard thought. Aloud, she replied, "Maybe, but we don't really have any sort of network to contact one another. And, even if we did . . ." Turning to Liara, she said, "Liara, you have no idea the kind of terror and pain this thing could cause. No matter how scared I am, I _have _to bring this creep down."

Liara looked into her beloved's eyes, and her heart clenched. Shepard held the same look she had the night before they'd gone into battle against Saren . . . The look of a soldier who would fight against the enemy no matter how likely her own death seemed. "All right, My Love. What do we do?"

* * *

**Wesen:**

**Mellifer: **From the scientific name for the European honey bee, _Apis **Mellifera**_(derived from the Latin, "honey-bearer"). Mellifers are bee-like wesen who live in swarms with a queen like their animal counterparts. This queen is stronger than her workers, and is able to control mundane bees. Mellifers are clarions, that is, town-cries or "creature community switch-boards;" they spread important messages among the wesen community. Historically, they are the only wesen to regularly work with Grimms, although some still fear them. Mellifers have only one natural enemy: the Hexenbiest. However, only the queen is able to match a Hexenbiest's strength. The sometimes employ a syringe-like weapon which they load with the gathered venom of their insect cousins.


	3. Chapter 2: Loyalty

**Author's Notes: Hey, sorry it's been a while. This one's a little short, but then they all are (this ****_is _****based on a single, 45-minute episode, remember).**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Loyalty**

"Garrus, am I glad to see you," Shepard said, embracing her friend as soon as the door opened.

"Shepard," the Turian replied. "I don't recall you being this happy to see me back on Omega. Something _really_ ugly must be going on."

"You don't know the half of it," Shepard sighed, leading her friend into the livingroom. The condo Shepard and Liara had rented for the week was more of a penthouse—the advantages of being a Spectre and the Shadow Broker, respectively. In the large room, Liara and Thane sat on opposite ends of the L-shaped couch.

"Hello, Garrus," Liara said, from her seated position. Thane nodded silently.

"Hey, Liara, Thane," the bulky alien responded. "So, Wesen problems?"

"Indeed," the Asari replied. Jane and I encountered a murder victim this evening: a young woman rendered blind by parasitic worms sprayed into her eyes." She typed some commands into her Omnitool and the projector on the table in front of them displayed the data.

"What manner of person would commit such crime?" Thane asked, staring at the display.

"A _Jinnamuru Xunte," _Shepard replied, activating her own Omnitool. The holograms changed, displaying scanned pages of Grimm diaries.

"'A Tear-Stealing Evil Spirit,'" Thane read. "It derives an opiate-like high from . . . human tears."

"Then, the red sand—the parasites . . ." Liara gasped.

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, their main purpose isn't to blind people, just to hurt them enough to make them start crying."

"Sick," Garrus noted, "Ugly, too." Scanning the data, one fact caught his eye. "Uh, Shepard, it says here these guys like to attack the relatives of their victims, hitting people who already want to cry."

"We won't have to worry about that yet," the Grimm noted. "Liara and I have made some inquiries; our victim had no relatives on the Citadel aside from a brother who died a while ago in an accident."

"Yes," Thane intoned, examining the data before him carefully. "Apparently, they are fond of attacking those who are emotionally vulnerable: the grieving, the depressed, the guilty." He read on. _Jinnamuru Xunte, _often adopted occupations which would put them near such people, such as councilors, doctors, even clerics. Two dark serpents squirmed in the Drell's heart. One represented the warrior's outrage at anyone who was cowardly enough to attack people who were already suffering; the other was the pious man's righteous fury against those who dared profane faith.

"So, what do we do about this creep?" Garrus asked.

"Liara and I have a theory," Shepard explained.

"Apparently, she was last seen at a grief-support meeting in the Kithoi Ward," Liara explained. "Jane and I have already visited the Asari who lead the meeting. Now, we have a suspect." She pushed a few buttons and the projection changed yet again, depicting a handsome human male.

"How long do we have before he strikes again?" Thane asked.

Shepard shrugged. "Don't know. The records say the high wears off pretty fast, though . . ."

* * *

_"Ah! AAAAAANHHHHHHHH!" _The woman screamed as she fell over her table. She tried to push herself up off the floor, but something grabbed her wrists and hauled her to her feet. Was it the man she had invited in? What was that strange buzzing sound?

* * *

**Author's Notes (cont.): Well, how's that for a cliffhanger? Anyhow I don't think I need a description of the ****_Jinnamuru Xunte _****here. A) I already made one back in my previous story, and B) I JUST DESCRIBED IT IN THE NARRATIVE. **

**I hope I got the characterization of Garrus and Thane right. Thane's reaction to the bad guy is going to be important later. I think his sense of honor and (for want of a better term) "humanitarianism" would drive him to be angry at anyone who messes with people who couldn't protect themselves (also, I think the memory of his wife's death would support this attitude). The same goes for his spirituality; ****I realize that the first victim probably didn't worship the Drell Pantheon, but** I believe he would be offended at **_any _****religion being used for evil (i.e. Thane would not like the KKK or the Taliban).**


	4. Chapter 3: Dread

**Author's Notes: Hey, all. Sorry this one's a little short, but it's gets what done what I want it to, so there you go. Also, you can't really expect any of these chapters to be very long when I'm really just cutting up bits and pieces of a single 45-or-so minute episode. Anyway, here's Part the Fourth**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Dread**

Thane leaned over the table. "Two cups of coffee: one with lipstick, one without."

"Oh, I get it," Garrus remarked." He wins their trust, they invite him in for coffee, and then . . ."

"He feeds," the Drell stated, standing up again. The two were standing in the apartment of the second victim. Thankfully, this one wasn't crushed; in fact, she was in the hospital owning to the fortuitous arrival of her older sister. Said elder sibling had ridden the hospital with her and was still with the maimed woman. Shepard and Liara were with them.

* * *

"How's she doing?" Shepard asked the brown-haired woman. Along with Liara, they were standing outside a hospital ward. Inside, a woman lay in bed with bandages on her eyes. Even with the covering, she looked a great deal like her sister.

"They had to sedate her because of the pain," the woman answered. "Who could do this? _Why?"_

"We're doing everything we can to find the man who did this," Liara assured her. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"No, I'm afraid not, but I saw his car," the woman replied. "It was red with a white hatch and . . . tail fins."

Shepard nodded. "Thank you. Sally, I realize this may be difficult, but . . . does your sister go to grief support meetings?"

"Yeah," Sally said. "Since Dad died a yea—"

_"Aaaaaah!" _The cry broke off whatever Sally was going to say. Turning around, they saw that Sally's sister was sitting upright in bed, trying to take her bandages off.

"Sarah!" Sally pleaded as she entered the room. "You have to leave the bandages on!"

_"My eyes!" _the woman cried, possibly not hearing her sister. _"My eyes! They HURT!"_

"Sarah, you—"whatever Sally was going to say was cut off by the sight that greeted her when Sarah had removed half the bandages covering her eyes: two bleeding circles right above her eyes.

"Come on, Jane," Liara whispered, taking the Spectre's hand. "We should go."

Shepard moved stiffly, barely walking, making no sounds. The only thing rapid was her trembling lip. Liara led her away from the room as the doctors began rushing in to help the injured woman. Once they were out of the way (and away from poor Sarah's yelling) Liara wrapped her arms around her beloved. After a moment, Jane responded, slowly bringing her arms around Liara's thin frame, then tightening them and burying her face into the Asari's shoulder. She made no sound, and Liara tried not to groan when the Grimm's strong arms became a little _too _tight; she just held on and tried to give strength and courage to the strongest and bravest person she and ever known.

After an eternity or a moment—neither knew nor cared—Shepard finally loosened her grip on the other woman. "Thank you, Liara" she started, but before she could finish, her Omnitool started beeping.

"Answer it," Liara said, her bright, blue eyes gentle and full and love. Sometimes, speech was unnecessary.

Jane nodded, then reluctantly let go of her partner. "Shepard," she answered, activating the communication function.

"Hello, Commander." To their mutual surprise, it was the coroner. "When I heard about the second victim, I came to the hospital where she is staying."

"We're here, too," the Sepctre replied. "It's getting pretty nasty."

"Nastier than you think," the man said. "Remember those little 'babies' swimming around in our first victim's eyes."

_"Yes," _Shepard answered through gritted teeth.

"Well, we found more in this second girl's eyes, but they're not babies anymore."

* * *

"Apparently, the worms are immune to conventional laser therapy and most toxins," Liara remarked to Garrus and Thane over the car's video feed.

"Then, they had no hope of saving her," Thane remarked. "According to the data you gave us," he said to Shepard, "the antidote is only effective if administered in the first hours after infection, and it is . . . very difficult to gather the ingredients."

"So, she never had a chance," Shepard sighed. Sarah was still alive, but her eyes were completing gone.

"Red chasse, white hatch, tail fins . . . that'd be a mark X if I've got my classics right," Garrus mused over the communicator.

Shepard nodded in thought. "What about his next target? We know he targets grief support meetings. Is there another one tonight?"

"No, this afternoon," Liara replied.

"When does it start?" Shepard asked.

"Almost two hours ago."

* * *

**Author's Notes: And, now the story is more or less about halfway done. Sorry to all you Thane and Garrus fans. They will have more later, I promise, just wait another chapter or two.**

**Funny story, they were going to have a bigger part, doing the interview we saw Hank and Nick conduct in the original episode. Then, as I was proofreading, I saw that, in the previous chapter, I had said that Liara and Shepard had already done that off-screen. So, yeah. _That's_ my excuse for why Thane and Garrus' part is so short and clipped. **


End file.
